Page 23 of Juno

“Again, that’s for me to know,” Bruno said. “You’ll find out soon enough, but for now, I’m going to need you to be quiet while I make a few calls. Can you do that?”

Her smile felt mean, and she knew that he could see her hatred for him in her eyes if he looked hard enough. “Sure,” she lied.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Bruno spat. “It’s also why I’ve come prepared.” He pulled a syringe out of his jacket pocket and held it in front of her. “You’re going to take a little nap for me, Juno. Then, when you wake up again, we can have a little bit of fun.” She was sure that his idea of fun and hers were very different. Juno also knew that she wasn’t going to like any of Bruno’s planned fun.

He pulled the cap from the needle and squirted some liquid from the tip. “What is that?” Juno stuttered.

His laugh was mean and meant to frighten her, but Juno was sure that he couldn’t scare her any more than she already was. Bruno shoved the needle into her arm, and she winced, trying not to let him know that he was hurting her. He seemed to get off on punishing her for some imaginary wrong that she had done to him.

“You don’t need to know what’s in the syringe. Just take a little nap,” Bruno insisted. She looked over to where Saint still lay on the floor and sobbed. His face smashed against the floor was the last thing that she remembered seeing as she drifted off. She wanted to shout at Saint to wake up and keep his promise to keep her safe, but she couldn’t. Juno couldn’t do anything but silently pray that Saint woke up soon because whatever Bruno had given her was enough to knock her out for some time.

* * *

Juno woke when the sunshine filtered through the kitchen window. She tried to open her eyes, but every time she did, she immediately closed them. The light felt as though it physically hurt her. She was sure that her head felt worse every time she moved and some things like blinking felt excruciating.

“Welcome back,” Bruno said. “You were out for a while.”

“How long?” she asked. She tried to clear her throat and failed. It felt as though she had swallowed glass and her mouth was dry. “Can I have some water?” Juno asked.

“We’ll get to that,” Bruno said.

She looked over at Saint and gasped. He was still lying on the floor, but now he was face up. “What did you do to him?” Juno accused.

“Well, your boyfriend woke up and left me no choice but to help him to take another nap—this time, a bit longer. I gave him the same thing that I gave to you. He’ll be fine, but I couldn’t have him trying to take me down, and your boyfriend seems to have a one-track mind.”

Bruno pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and put one in his mouth, grabbing a lighter from the same pocket. “I’d rather that you don’t smoke in my home,” she said. He laughed at her again and lit his cigarette, tossing the pack and lighter back on the table.

“I think that you keep forgetting who is in charge, Juno,” he insisted. She did not doubt that Bruno was in charge. He was holding all the cards, but she planned on changing that soon enough.

Juno watched Bruno pace the floor in front of her. He picked the gun up from the kitchen table and Juno wondered why he was suddenly acting squirrelly. He was agitated and the gun in his hand worried her. He looked so out of control; she worried that he’d end up shooting one of them by accident.

“Why are you here, Bruno?” she stuttered. “You still haven’t told me.” Juno had a pretty good idea as to why he was there, but she knew that if she could keep him talking, Saint might come to. She looked over at his lifeless body on the floor in the corner of the kitchen and sobbed. What if he never came to? What if Bruno had killed him? Juno knew that thinking like that wouldn’t help her keep her head clear, and right now, that was exactly what she needed to deal with him.

“I’m sick of you telling me no,” he admitted.

“And you thought that you’d show up here, drug me and my boyfriend, and I’d magically tell you yes? That’s ridiculous, Bruno, even for you. Be better than that. If you leave now, I won’t tell anyone about what happened here. No one will ever have to know.” He seemed to be able to see right through her lies. She had no intention of just letting him go if he freed her. She’d fight like hell and Bruno seemed to know that.

“Well, that was the plan,” Bruno said. “I’d really like to do this the easy way. I’m tired and would like to get on with my day.”

“Maybe you should take one of your shots,” she offered. “You’ll get a good nap.” Bruno stood and she clenched her jaw, waiting for the pain that was going to follow his beating. He hadn’t ever hurt her before, but she had watched him hit a few of the other girls. Every time she tried to help them, Bruno threatened that she’d be next if she stuck her nose where it didn’t belong.

“Is that how this is going to work?” Juno asked. “You’re just going to beat me up every time I say something that you don’t like.” She could see Saint stirring in the corner of the room, and Juno knew that keeping Bruno’s attention wasn’t optional. She needed to buy Saint some time to come to. With any luck, he’d be able to use the fact that Bruno thought he was out for a while to his advantage.

“I think that you need to be taught a lesson, Juno,” he said. “Your mouth has always been an issue, and I let it slide because I liked you, but now, I see who you really are. Maybe a few beatings will teach you how to behave and keep your mouth shut. Or we can always give your pretty lips something to do. I’m betting that you give pretty good head.” The idea of putting any body part of Bruno’s in her mouth made her physically sick. She noticed that Saint’s eyes were open and staring at her. She was cloudy when she woke up, but he seemed hyper-focused and for just a second, she felt bad for what Saint was about to do to Bruno.

“Before you start teaching me a lesson, how about you tell me why you set my car on fire?” she asked.

Bruno laughed, “Honestly, I did you a favor. That hunk of junk was way past its prime.”

“It was my car, and whether you thought that it was junk or not wasn’t the point. You can’t just go around setting other people’s cars on fire,” she insisted. Scolding Bruno might not have been the best idea, but she knew that keeping him talking would distract him from everything that was about to happen around him.

“Who was in the car?” she asked.

“Well, that’s a bit of a funny story,” Bruno said. He would think that finding a burnt body in her car would be a funny story. “You see, Erica caught me tossing gasoline on your car and when she tried to stop me from lighting the match, I pushed her, and she fell and hit her head.”

“Oh, God,” Juno breathed. Erica was one of the girls down at the club. Juno had always suspected that she was underage but never asked the girl. Sometimes it was best for her to stay out of the other girls’ business. She’d worry less about them if she did.

“If it makes you feel any better, she died instantly when her head hit the pavement. She left me with no other option than to put her into the car and set it on fire.”

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